Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) VP David Eric Russell Sells 5,000 Shares

Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) VP David Eric Russell sold 5,000 shares of Yum! Brands stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total value of $793,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 11,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,897,573.60. The trade was a 29.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Yum! Brands Trading Up 0.7 %

Yum! Brands stock opened at $159.53 on Thursday. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.13 and a 12-month high of $161.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $137.81 and a 200 day moving average of $136.04.

Yum! Brands Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. This is an increase from Yum! Brands’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Yum! Brands’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.41%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 17.9% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,323 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $325,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 83,975 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $11,255,000 after purchasing an additional 1,290 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in Yum! Brands by 30.8% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 38,388 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $5,363,000 after purchasing an additional 9,046 shares during the period. National Pension Service grew its holdings in Yum! Brands by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 657,951 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $91,922,000 after buying an additional 63,406 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Yum! Brands by 0.9% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 121,346 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $16,953,000 after buying an additional 1,047 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on YUM shares. Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Yum! Brands from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $141.00 target price (down from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Yum! Brands from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Yum! Brands from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Yum! Brands presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $150.65.

About Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, develops, operates, and franchises quick service restaurants worldwide. The company operates through the KFC Division, the Taco Bell Division, the Pizza Hut Division, and the Habit Burger Grill Division segments. It also operates restaurants under the KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and The Habit Burger Grill brands, which specialize in chicken, pizza, made-to-order chargrilled burgers, sandwiches, Mexican-style food categories, and other food products.